Making the Best of It

"This is much worse than I thought it was going to be," my son said, as we were on our way home after a 10-day trip. The airport where we were supposed to land had suddenly closed, due to violent thunderstorms, and we were rerouted to another airport in another state. Of course by then we'd missed our connecting flight and had to spend the night in an airport hotel hoping to get out the next morning.

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My son burst into tears. "I miss Daddy," he said, for my husband had returned earlier in the week. I missed him too, and, as I could feel my stress level shoot up, I thought I had two choices: I could either give in to the feelings of annoyance and irritability that were threatening to overtake me, or I could make the best of it. I chose the latter, though not until after I'd snapped first.

Stress exacerbates the symptoms of perimenopause, and I was certainly stressed. I'd checked my bag and had no change of clothes. I had a work deadline that I might miss. I had my weekend planned and a layover ruined those plans. And, after not having a period for however long, you guessed it. "What new fresh hell is this?" I thought to myself. But then I decided to look at the experience in a different way. "It's an adventure!" I told Max.

And that attitude, I realized, applies to this stage of my life as well. I never know what to expect. While I can't control what happens to my body, I can control my perception of these changes, and learn the wisdom of what my body is trying to tell me, to paraphrase Christiane Northrup, MD.

I found that when I lightened my perception, the world around me responded similarly. "Imagine if you were a pioneer," my husband said to Max, when we were finally reunited. "It would have taken you four months to travel across the country, rather than just two days." Now that's an interesting perspective.

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